Reactions to Popovich’s 500th victory

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn’t say a word about his 500th victory until someone else brought up after the Spurs’ victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.

“It goes by pretty quickly,” said Popovich, who became the Spurs’ head coach during the 1997-97 season. “If one gets to that number of wins, anybody with half a brain knows why. That’s because you’re blessed with great players. Players that aren’t very good or teams that aren’t very good don’t help their coaches get 500 wins. That’s what it’s all about.”

Tim Duncan, who has played for Popovich on three NBA championship teams, said Popovich was equally low key about the milestone with his own players.

“We acknowledged that,” Duncan said. “As Pop is Pop, he said it had nothing to do with me. It’s all about the players, blah blah blah blah blah. He didn’t acknowledge it all. But it’s a great accomplishment and I know he’ll be here for many, many more.”

Spurs guard Tony Parker has been known to be on the receiving end of Popovich’s louder coaching efforts. It was Parker who, once early in his career, noted that Popovich always yells at him. And it was Parker who was excited about Popovich’s milestone on Thursday.

“It was great. I’m very happy for him,” Parker said. “I’m sure he’s going to celebrate with a nice bottle of win tonight.